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From: baum@apple.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Will caches ever become obsolete?
Message-ID: <511@apple.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 4-Mar-87 18:50:35 EST
Article-I.D.: apple.511
Posted: Wed Mar  4 18:50:35 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 6-Mar-87 22:44:37 EST
References: <3182@wateng.UUCP> <4765@shemp.ucla-cs.UCLA.EDU> <8419@decwrl.DEC.COM>
Reply-To: baum@apple.UUCP (Allen Baum)
Organization: Apple Computer, Inc.
Lines: 20

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This idea behind caching is that it is possible to make a combination
of small-fast and large-slow memory look large-fast. Obviously, this
is only useful if you can't get large-fast for some reason (e.g. it
is prohibitively expensive). This is generally the case; fast
memories cost more than slow memories of equivalent size. There is no
reason to believe that this 'fact of economics/nature' will change.

Another possibility is that memory will be fast enough; faster
memories will not speed up the system as a whole. I wouldn't expect
this to be the case unless the logic or I/O is slow. If it is the
logic, build your logic out of memories (or memory technology). If it
is I/O that slows the system down instead of logic, then (assuming
Disk I/O) you can make your disk look faster using caching techniques
as well.


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